KISS

   See also [1]minimalism.

   KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!; also KISR, keep it simple ,retard) is a
   [2]minimalist design philosophy that favors simplicity, both internal and
   external, [3]technology that is as simple as possible to achieve given
   task. This philosophy doesn't primarily stem from [4]laziness or a desire
   to rush something (though these are completely valid reasons too), but
   mainly from the fact that higher [5]complexity comes with increasingly
   negative effects such as the cost of development, cost of [6]maintenance,
   greater probability of [7]bugs and failure, more [8]dependencies etc.

   WATCH OUT: many have started to ride on the wave of the "KISS" trend and
   abuse the term, twisting its true meaning; for example GNU/Linux Mint has
   started to market itself as "KISS" -- that's of course ridiculous and all
   Mint developers are cretins and idiots. Maximum INTERNAL simplicity is a
   necessary prerequisite for the KISS philosophy, anything that's just
   simple on the outside is a mere harmful [9]pseudominimalism -- you may as
   well use a [10]Mac.

   Under dystopian [11]capitalism simple [12]technology, such as simple
   [13]software, has at least one more advantage related to "[14]intellectual
   property": a simple solution is less likely to step on a [15]patent
   landmine because such a simple solution will either be hard to patent or
   as more obvious will have been discovered and patented sooner and the
   patent is more likely to already be expired. So in this sense KISS
   technology is legally safer.

   Apparently the term KISS originated in the US Army plane engineering: the
   planes needed to be repairable by stupid soldiers with limited tools under
   field conditions.

   Examples of KISS "[16]solutions" include:

     * Using a [17]plain text file instead of a dedicated [18]bug tracker
       (TODO.txt), note taking program etc.
     * Creating website in plain [19]HTML instead of using some complex web
       framework such as [20]Wordpress.
     * Using solar panels directly, without a battery, if it's [21]good
       enough.
     * Implementing a web left-right sweeping image gallery with HTML
       [22]iframe instead of some overcomplicated [23]JavaScript library. {
       Example stolen from [24]reactionary software website. ~drummyfish }
     * Supporting only [25]ASCII instead of [26]Unicode, it is [27]good
       enough.
     * Using a plain text flat file instead of a [28]database system.
     * Using [29]markdown for creating documents, as opposed to using office
       programs such as [30]Libreoffice.
     * Using a trivial [31]shell script for compiling your programs rather
       than a complex build system such as [32]CMake.
     * Using [33]ASCII art instead of bitmap images.
     * In the world of [34]coffee so called Turkish coffee without any milk
       and sugar is probably the most KISS option, you just put coffee ground
       in a mug and pour hot water on it. Compare this to Espresso with milk
       and sugar which needs a quite complex and expensive machine. { Yeah, I
       drink the most KISS coffee, though sometimes I also use French press
       -- that one is still quite simple. ~drummyfish }
     * ...

   Compared to [35]suckless, [36]Unix philosophy and [37]LRS, KISS is a more
   general term and isn't tied to any specific group or movement, it doesn't
   imply any specifics but rather the general overall idea of simplicity
   being an advantage ([38]less is more, [39]worse is better, ...).

   [40]KISS Linux is an example of software developed under this philosophy
   and adapting the term itself.

See Also

     * [41]minimalism
     * [42]suckless
     * [43]KILL
     * [44]primitivism
     * [45]LRS
     * [46]KISP

Links:
1. minimalism.md
2. minimalism.md
3. tech.md
4. laziness.md
5. complexity.md
6. maintenance.md
7. bug.md
8. dependency.md
9. pseudominimalism.md
10. mac.md
11. capitalism.md
12. tech.md
13. software.md
14. intellectual_property.md
15. patent.md
16. solution.md
17. plain_text.md
18. bug.md
19. html.md
20. wordpress.md
21. good_enough.md
22. iframe.md
23. js.md
24. reactionary_software.md
25. ascii.md
26. unicode.md
27. good_enough.md
28. database.md
29. markdown.md
30. libreoffice.md
31. shell.md
32. cmake.md
33. ascii_art.md
34. coffee.md
35. suckless.md
36. unix_philosophy.md
37. lrs.md
38. less_is_more.md
39. worse_is_better.md
40. kiss_linux.md
41. minimalism.md
42. suckless.md
43. kill.md
44. primitivism.md
45. lrs.md
46. kisp.md